Harvard offers free tuition to students from families earning $200,000 or less

WASHINGTON - Harvard University said on Monday it would make tuition free for undergraduate students from families earning less than $200,000 a year and would also cover health insurance, housing and other expenses for those earning less than $100,000.

The offer will take effect in the 2025-26 academic year, the university said in a statement.

The Ivy League school, which in the past offered free tuition to undergraduates from families earning less than $85,000 a year, said it wanted to make the educational institution affordable to more students, especially those who came from middle-income families.

Tuition and fees, including housing and food, at Harvard College, the university's undergraduate program, cost more than $82,000 in the 2024-25 academic year, according to the school's website.

The tuition offer may help Harvard arrest or reverse a decline in the racial diversity in its student body since the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2023 rejected affirmative action as a means to admit more people of color.

“Putting Harvard within financial reach for more individuals widens the array of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that all of our students encounter, fostering their intellectual and personal growth,” Harvard University President Alan Garber said in a statement.

Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has issued executive orders to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusiveness initiatives at universities, forcing them to create new ways to retain students of different races and backgrounds.

The offer, which follows similar moves at other prominent universities, will enable about 86% of U.S. families to qualify for financial aid, the university added.

Real median household income was $80,610 in 2023 in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Frank McGurty and Bill Berkrot)